There’s an old Russian joke: What’s the easiest way to beat Alex Shabalov?
Answer: Play him in the first round!*

Like all good jokes, it’s half true: Alex has lost round one in three of the seven major tournaments he’s played in 2008 (losing in the World Open, US Championship, and Foxwoods; winning in Chicago, Sturbridge, the Liberty Bell, and the Edmonton International). He almost made it 4-4 yesterday at the US Open, losing a queen for rook and bishop against expert Alvero Blanco. Technically this was round two, but it was the first game for Shabalov, who came directly from the Edmonton International (July 31-Aug 4) and consequently had to take a half point bye in round one. He won clear second in Edmonton, with wins over GMs Jesse Kraai, Surya Ganguly, and Josh Friedel.

*Coincidentally, I met Alex 15 years ago when we were paired in the first round of the US Open. Surprisingly, he beat me.

Let’s take a look at a few of Alex’s first round debacles. The notes to the Blanco game are based on his comments. Many thanks to him for being such an incredibly good sport in his help with this article. Also note that losing the first game is not necessarily the end of the world- Alex came back from his loss to Williams in Foxwoods to take first place.

1.Nf3 d5 2.e3
"I don't know what he wants!?" 2...e6 3.c4
"I was going to play a Stonewall, but I have to wait until he plays d4 to play ...f5; otherwise he can play d3 and e4." 3...c6 4.b3 Nf6 5.Bb2 Nbd7 6.Qc2
"He's waiting until I play Bd6 to play g4, so I'm trying to find other useful moves." 6...a6 7.Be2 Bd6
"I'm out of useful moves." 8.g4 0–0 9.g5 Ne8
Maybe 9...Ne4? 10.d4 Qe7 11.Nc3
"He wants to play e4."
11...f5 12.gxf6 Nexf6 13.0–0–0 b5 14.c5 Bc7 15.Bd3 e5

"And what am I gonna do? If just queen back, he takes on h7 and then mates me." 27...Qxh2 28.Bxh7+ Qxh7 29.Rf8+ Kxf8 30.Qxh7

Position after 30.Qxh7

"I'm sure this is lost for me. If I make a move like Be5, he's going to check me on f5, then c8, and then he takes the c6 pawn and I can resign. So I find the only move."
30...Ke7
"Now my king gets to c6 in time to defend the pawn." 31.Qg8
31.Qxg7+ Kd8 "This is drawn, but he tries to win." 31...Be5 32.Kc2
32.Qc8 Rc7 33.Qxa6 "He should take the a-pawn right away, and then return the queen to g8. This must be winning. In the game, he takes later and gives me some important tempi to push my g-pawn."
32...a5 33.Qc8 Rc7 34.Qa8 g5 35.Qxa5 g4 36.Qe1
36.Qd2 "I think this move is his last chance to make a draw-- he has more checks from e2." 36...Ke6 37.a4 bxa4 38.bxa4 g3 39.Qh1 Rg7 40.Qg2 Rh7 41.Kd3 Rh2 42.Qf3 g2 43.Qg4+ Kf6 44.a5